Former scavenger finds healing through street kids encounter

COGTAS

SHE started scavenging trash when she was 8 years old to help her family in Cebu City.

Today,  Maria Georgina “Maggie” Cogtas does volunteer work with street children  after graduating at the top of her class with a degree in psychology  from the University of Cebu.

The testimony of 21-year-old Cogtas brought tears to to the eyes of several in the  the audience of  15,000 delegates to the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) on Friday.

“As a child, I sacrificed playing so we could survive. We had no choice but to fend for ourselves,” she said.

The youngest of seven children said she  used the money she earned from selling scrap metal and plastic bottles to put food on the table.

Their father left when she was 13 while their mother went to Manila to find a job.

Cogtas said she always thought being born into a poor family and being deprived of material benefits  was the worst kind of poverty.

But  growing up, she found out that poverty goes beyond what can be seen with the eyes.

For more than half her life, Cogtassaid she  had to deal with rejection, being unable to express herself, emotional numbness, a broken home, and a disconnection from God and society.

She said she had to deal with the “pathetic, cold stares” of pedestrians and the “mocking stares” of other children.

“Back then, my posture was stooped and I walked with my head down,” she said.

She was at the brink of losing hope. Cogtas, however, started to find healing in God when she was offered a scholarship in 2010 by a church-based organization in Cebu, Dilaab Foundation Inc.

She graduated at  the top of her class at the University of Cebu in October 2015.

In exchange for her scholarship, Cogtas is doing volunteer work for Dilaab for one year. She spends  Saturdays with street children, exercising, teaching them about hygiene, catechism, and other recreational activities.

The Saturday Street Children Encounter, as it is called by the group, is on its fifth year.

“My involvement with the children helped me appreciate what I was ashamed of before,” she said.

Now, Cogtas is proud to say that she used to be a street kid, scavenging for scraps to help her family survive.

She said she wished that the close to 60 street children under her care would one day become public servants, policemen, teachers, nurses, doctors, and even priests, who would also reach out to other underprivileged youth.

“Right now, all I can offer is  my time, moral support, and prayers. But slowly, many are responding to the need to help these children through the IEC,” she said.

She said she hoped that more people  as well as the Church would reach out to street children.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, in response, said there is a committee of communion and solidarity headed by Fr. Carmelo Diola of Dilaab  that is engaged in working with the poor.

“I have also mentioned that we are also planning to build a center for the poor. This project should be the fruit of the IEC,” he added.